“I’d like to thank
the American people for their cooperation and participation in the 2010 Census,” Locke
said. “With their
help, we were able to match the
participation rates of 2000 in a time of declining survey participation and save
taxpayer money by reducing the need for costly door-to-door follow up.”

America’s strong mail participation is part of
the reason the U.S. Census Bureau was able to announce $1.6 billion in 2010 Census operational
savings in August. More than 250,000 partner organizations
and a far-reaching communications campaign helped alert people across the
country about the importance of mailing back their 2010 Census
form.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced today that the Commerce
Department’s U.S. Census Bureau is returning $1.6 billion in 2010 Census
operational savings.

In the first full year of Census management by Obama
administration officials and in a time of tightened federal resources, the
Census came in 22 percent under budget. The savings occurred primarily because
contingency funding set aside for disasters or major operational failures was
not tapped and because the Census questionnaire mail-back response rate and
workforce productivity across field operations both beat
expectations.

In the years leading up to the 2010 Census, operations
had been beset by a costly IT systems development. Upon taking office in 2009,
Locke and Census Bureau Director Robert Groves heard warnings from Congress and
Census watchdogs about the many high-risk operational challenges ahead and about
the numerous systems failures in the years preceding the 2010 count. Importantly, response rates to surveys had
been declining for years, and if that trend had held true for this decade’s
census, it would have added hundreds of millions to the cost of the door-to-door
follow-up effort.

“In early 2009, the 2010 Census was in need of top-notch
operational and fiscal management,” Locke said. “The Census is a massive
undertaking with great risk for operational problems and cost overruns. We appointed Dr.
Groves to execute the 2010 Census with a directive to run a successful,
non-partisan Census that counted everyone. Just as importantly, the President
and I directed Dr. Groves to run a comprehensive review of the Census plan and
find ways to cut costs and enumerate the population more efficiently. Over the
last 17 months, we have worked tirelessly to ensure American tax dollars were
being spent wisely.” Read more | en español | Remarks | White House blog | Census Director's blog